TOURNEY BRACKETS

SYRACUSE, NY - Maybe it was what the doctor ordered. Literally. After spending the week with his team battling a stomach flu, Johns Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala didn't know what to expect from his squad in Saturday's game against eighth-ranked Syracuse. Whatever it was that the Blue Jays took sure worked as they jumped out to an 11-5 halftime lead and cruised to a 17-9 win that ran their winning to four games. The win is also Hopkins third in its last four games at the Carrier Dome. Syracuse slips to 2-3 with the loss.

The Blue Jays spotted the Orange two of the first three goals of the game before erupting for eight straight to take a 9-2 lead early in the second quarter. Amazingly the eight goals came from eight different players.

Freshman Steven Boyle ignited the spree with his ninth goal of the year off an assist from senior Jake Byrne, who punched home his second goal of the game just 57 seconds later to give the Blue Jays their first lead of the game (3-2). From there it was good ball movement and dodging that helped the Blue Jays build the 11-5 halftime lead.

Junior Kevin Huntley pushed the lead to 4-2 when he scooped up a loose ball and beat Syracuse goalie Peter Coluccini, who had lost control of the ball in the crease after a Blue Jay turnover. Boyle found a wide-open Mark Bryan 53 seconds later and Bryan blew one past Coluccini from eight yards out before Rabil made it 6-2 at the end of the first quarter with a 10-yard bouncer with 1:09 remaining in the period.

It took less than two minutes of the second quarter for the Blue Jays to push the lead to 9-2 as Stephen Peyser, Brian Christopher and Michael Kimmel all scored on great individual efforts. Peyser needed just 21 seconds of the period to score off the faceoff after the Blue Jays gained possession and cleared their zone, while Christopher came from behind the goal and beat Coluccini from the side. Kimmel closed out the lightning-quick spree as he worked to the middle of the field from the top of the box and picked the low corner from 10 yards out. Syracuse never had possession of the ball during the three-goal run.

The Orange rallied as expected by scoring three of the next four goal as Steven Brooks notched an extra-man goal just over a minute after Kimmel's tally to make it 9-3 and Kenny Nims made the Blue Jays pay for a failed clear just over three minutes later to slice the lead to 9-4. Another goal by Boyle with 4:30 remaining was answered by Nims' goal with just 13 seconds remaining before the half.

Syracuse took the ensuing faceoff and had a chance to score, but a loose ball situation turned into a goal at the buzzer for the Blue Jays as Rabil came up with a ground ball, raced to midfield and fired a pass to Byrne, who blistered one over Coluccini's left shoulder from 18 yards out. Originally counted, the goal was subsequently taken away and then added back to account for the 11-5 halftime score.

Any hopes for a Syracuse comeback were dashed in the first six minutes of the third quarter as the Blue Jays scored the first five goals of the second half to push their lead to 16-5. Rabil scored his third and fourth goals of the game during the spree, which also featured goals by Boyle, Kimmel and Christopher. Syracuse actually won the opening faceoff of the second half, but didn't have a sustained offensive possession until they won the faceoff after Christopher's goal with just under nine minutes remaining in the period.

The Orange scored four of the final five goals of the game as Brooks scored twice, Rommel tallied an extra-man goal and Brendan Loftus punched one home in the final minute. Boyle scored his fourth goal of the game with 2:37 remaining to account for JHU's only goal in the final 23 minutes.

Senior goalie Jesse Schwartzman led a solid effort by the Blue Jay defense as he posted 17 saves, including several of the point-blank variety. The 17 saves tie Schwartzman's season high and are tied for the third-highest single-game total of his career. He also became the eighth goalie in school history to amass 400 career saves as he now has 401 to his credit.

Boyle's four goals are a career-high and he added the one assist for a personal-best five points. Rabil continued his solid play against the Orange as his three-goal, three-assist effort improved his career totals to 15 goals and four assists in four career games against Syracuse. The six points also tied his career high. Byrne (3g, 1a), Huntley (1g, 1a), Kimmel (2g) and Christopher (2g) also registered multi-point games for the Blue Jays, whose 17-goal outburst is tied for their second-best ever at the Dome.

Brooks paced the Orange with three goals and one assist, while Leveille (1g, 3a), Nims (2g) Rommel (1g, 2a) and Dan Hardy (1g, 1a) also had two or more points for Syracuse. Coluccini made six saves in the first half before giving way to Chris Rotella, who had six saves and allowed six goals in the second half.

Johns Hopkins will return to action next Saturday when the Blue Jays host Virginia at Homewood Field. Game time for the matchup between the last two national champions is set for 1 pm.

Yeah they also had mike powell and a half way decent defense in the past. The only one on that whole Syracuse team that did good was Steve Brooks. This year they have no defense and a bunch of cocky asses on ofense like Hardy and Nims that try to be like Mike Powell and throw it around the back and drop the ball when their team needs pts on the board. It's sooooooooo clear that unlike past Syracuse teams this one is pathetic and has no potential. They've lost every real game they played (Hopkins, Virginia) their going to lose to Princeton too. And don't say OOOO WELL WHAT ABOUT GEORGETOWN!!! Becuase the jackasses like Quint K. made Georgetown out to be world beaters before they even had to play anyone tough, like they're doing for Albany who beat an over confident, flat Hopkins team in the first game of the season. Hopkins might not win the championship, but they won't lose to Syracuse in the post-season.

just cuz they don't have everything goin fer them yet doesnt mean they suck...do u even kno wut your talkin about wen your sayin this stuff about nims and hardy, what about Pat Perritt (b4 he was arrested), and Abbott, and Leveille, plus hopkins has a nasty defense, but i guess ur not a complete idiot cuz ur rite about there D...Panarelli is so overrated, he's a star wen he gets the one strip out of the millions that he goes for in a game and then gets burned, but seriously dude, u gotta have an arguement wen ur gonna say this stuff

Dude I'm such a big Hopkins fan it isn't funny... I started going to just about every game since 1999 when guys like Dylan Schlott, Dan Denihan, Rob Doerr, Dave Rubano, Brian Carcatera, Matt O'Kelly and Aj Haugen we're the stars!!! So ofcourse I hate Hardy and Nims and the rest of them. Perritt needs to grow up a little bit. Getting arrested before a big game makes him look really bad. If he cared about his team that much he wouldn't have put himself in a bad situation before such a huge game. He has no class. I haven't heard of any Hopkins players in trouble since Greg Peyser in 2004 and Brian Carcaterra in like 2000. Anyway this Syracuse team isn't as good as the team last year that beat Hopkins or the team in 2005 that beat them in the Final 4.

I ment 2004... 2005 we won the championship.. Remember last year 9 straight blah blah blah... Who cares what they did last year, the year before, or ten years ago.. I'm telling you they suck this year and theres no way they'll win the championship!!! Not a chance in hell!!! SERIOUSLY!!!!!!!!!

Absolutely! They already have 3 losses, and it is not like they have a cakewalk throughout the rest of the season. They still have to play teams like Loyola, Princeton, Cornell, Rutgers, Albany, and UMASS. Non of those games are givens. They have to approach these games like their season is on the line.

I think they will end up being okay, but they need to pick it up now.

It is true that they have had a few suspensions, but championship and contending teams have to find a way to win under adversity!

Syracuse missed two of their big stars. Pattrick perrit who was an onfensive leader and got the team goin when they were losing. John carroza was also a key in their defense. Im not saying thats why they lost but its a big factor

they also have an extremely hard schedule every year. this year they played UVA(#2), Georgetown(#8) and Hopkins(#3) in that order. Then they have sort of a break against binghamton, and maybe loyola #12( but they did upset duke). Then they come back out and play Princeton(#9), Cornell(#1), Rutgers, Albany(#6) and UMass(they fell off) in that order. These guys have a hell of a schedule every year. Last year they dropped four in a row and then won like 9 in a row and made it to the Final Four. They will rebound. They need to start getting good defensive players, people who just jack guys up(like Marylands defense)

...was Hopkins offense! Yes, the Orange O made some glaring errors, but they did not play terribly. Yes some stupid little cute behind the back passes were made, but you can't call Nims and Hardy cocky and say they have no potential, this is their first year playing attack in college, and they've done well so far.

Sitting there late in the third quarter, it dawned on me that Hopkins offense controlled the tempo and held the ball for such a long time in the first 3 quarters, and SU had zero chance of even making it close. Their defense played TERRIBLY. SU's defense looked confused, slow on transition, and basically like they'd been out partying all night and were real hungover.

Coluccini was bad, and had 2 or 3 goals that were his fault and his fault only. Steve Brooks had another big game for the Orange, but was the only one. However, he was certainly outdone by...

Paul Rabil. Got off to a slow start to the year, but this kid loves to eat up SU. He is an absolute workhorse. Byrne had a nice game, showed his sharpshooting abilities, especially with that last goal in the first half. It may have been questionable but from where i was sitting, it was just sick. Stephen Boyle is the next big thing in college lacrosse, he will be amazing for the next four years for hopkins. He reminds me of Peter LeSeur, only more athletic and just a more complete game.

SU needs to finish above .500. They should manage that. After that, the tourney committee will look at their #1 SOS and give them an at-large bid. However, I don't expect to see SU in the final four in Baltimore if they keep this up. And that makes me a saaaad panda.

mostly. if SU qualifies, they'll get in. the commitee won't let SU sit out if they can help it. Byrne's end-of-half goal looked late to me.
I'd argue jhu's got #1 SOS, but it's hard to tell so whatever.